Trump shuts down probe into Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children

The move prevented the transfer of evidence to prosecutors investigating criminal cases, including the International Criminal Court's indictment of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. As a result, Russian war crimes investigators have lost access to a significant amount of information, including satellite imagery and biometric data tracking the identities and whereabouts of 35,000 Ukrainian children. 

 “We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences.,” a group of lawmakers led by Congressman Greg Landsman (Ohio) warned in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The administration's decision undermines years of work and millions of dollars invested in evidence of war crimes and is likely to hamper efforts to find the missing children and bring those responsible for their abduction to justice. 

The State Department confirmed the funding cut off, but did not comment on the deleted or compromised data.

“The Trump administration, through either its incompetence or its intent, has now cast doubt on the validity of three years and $26 million of taxpayer-funded war crimes evidence,” a researchers working on the Conflict Observatory initiative said on condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration also recently halted funding for the work of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which had been collecting data on the illegal abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia and facilitating the return of hundreds of children.

On March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice informed European officials that the United States is withdrawing from the International Center for Investigation of Crimes of Russian Aggression against Ukraine.

At least 19,546 children have been abducted or forcibly displaced by Russia, and 2,015 children are reported missing, according to the Ukrainian state platform Children of War, as of May 2024.